an old writer and his words

  • WHERE?

    If here,nowis no longerhere, nowas you read thisthen whereis there?Of course neitherhere nor nowstill existsonly words do.So perhapsthere is no here,there is no nowand we muststop thinkingof time, of placeand simply be.

    Lou Faber

  • YOUR TURN

    They said that we onlywanted to tear things down, thingsthat they treasured, wanted to maintain.That was only half true, becausewe knew that to build whatwas needed, you had to tear downwhat was there that would not,could not, be integrated.We did tear down someof those things they valued,but we built things that werebetter for the majority…

    Lou Faber

  • IN THE CITY OF DREAMS

    my demonssink into the abyssof memoryand drownin the hollowbetween her breasts,she touches my armand presses backwe are Siamese fetusesfloating untetheredin the sea of night,I can smell the sweet soapand taste the sweatbeading on hershoulder blades,I brush my fingersacross her thighand cling to sleep. First published in Discretionary Love, June 2023https://www.discretionarylove.com/in-the-city-of-dreams-louis-faber/

    Lou Faber

  • GENESIS

    Every time I see a doveI look twice to seeif by chance it has an olive branch,actually any branch, claspedin its claws, for that would meanthe storm of the last years,the wars, the abject poverty,the amassing of wealthfor its own sake at the neverending expense of others,was coming to an end,that the peace we all…

    Lou Faber

  • IN DREAMS

    In my youth so many of my dreamsseemed full length novels, on occasionsome were serialized over several nights.That did not last of course andas I aged medicine stepped into keep my pressure in checkand the magical diuretics decidedI could get by with dream novellas,which were certainly preferableto the other option, fabula interrumpirBut I continued to…

    Lou Faber

  • NANYO’S WASHBASIN

    If you sayyou have seenthe Buddhayou are blind.If you sayyou are a Buddhayou are deluded.If you sayyou wish to bea Buddha youwill never be. A reflection on Case 42 of the Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)

    Lou Faber

  • LIVE ON GOLIATH

    It wasn’t easy being a fat kid,chubby my parents liked to call it,but we both know I was fat.And both Jewish and shortfor good measure, and I wasn’tphysically adept at any sport,so, yes, I was an easy targetand several kids couldn’tpass that opportunity by.But I imagined I was Davidand all of the Goliaths fellat my…

    Lou Faber

  • SO, JEAN-JACQUES

    I suppose, with some effort,I, too, could become oneof Rousseau’s savage menbut I have to ask myself if thatis a path that I would choose to walk.It isn’t the walking that give me pause,for that, as Rousseau said,enables contemplation and notmere thoughts flitting about,and is a means of meditationin my frantically moving world.And it isn’t…

    Lou Faber

  • STILL VAINLY SEARCHING

    I spent a pleasant morning walkingquietly around the grounds, searchingfor them diligently, but as on most days they again remained hidden from sight.I did see several cattle egrets staringdeeply into the foliage, knowing that breakfast lay hidden deep within,and a flock of ibis pecking lifefrom the still wet, just watered lawns. Today I even saw…

    Lou Faber

  • A BRAVE NEW WORLD

    It is now easy to imagine a worldwhere dystopia lies in waitingaround every corner, always outof sight, always ready to pounce.Now imagine a world, this worldif in 1492 it was a woman whodiscovered this land, and womenwho made all of the decisions.Men could still go to war, but onlyif women decided the war was warranted.It…

    Lou Faber